Cornwall routs Somers in state Class A football quarterfinal

MAHOPAC — As he accepted the offensive MVP award at midfield on Monday, Cornwall wide receiver Alex Cruz thought about busting a move.

Justin Rodriguez

MAHOPAC — As he accepted the offensive MVP award at midfield on Monday, Cornwall wide receiver Alex Cruz thought about busting a move.

His his name is Cruz, after all, like Giants receiver Victor Cruz, and so Alex often gets asked by teammates and classmates to break into a salsa dance after touchdowns. This was prime time, everyone was watching, but Cruz again took a pass on the showboat shtick.

If he obliged, though, it might have been some dance party.

Cruz set a Section 9 single-game receiving record with 285 yards on 11 catches in Cornwall’s 34-13 win over Somers in the quarterfinals of the state Class A tournament.

A week after throwing for a Section 9-record 500 yards in a win over Wallkill in the Class A title game, Cornwall quarterback Mike White completed 20 of 31 passes for 435 yards and three touchdowns.

“I would do the dance, but these are really big games, and I can’t get a flag in these games,” Cruz said. “So I’d rather not do it. I like it, it’s cool. But I can’t do it during these games. When I had the MVP plaque I thought about it, but coach would get mad.”

Coach Marcus Hughes playfully deep-sixed the idea of Section 9’s version of a Cruz salsa dance at the start of the year. Cruz has not let his coach down. Salsa dance or not, once again, Cruz provided the excitement.

Cruz caught eight passes for 206 yards against Wallkill on Nov. 4 in Kingston in a 53-0 win. His performance against Somers (10-1) broke Newburgh Free Academy’s Shelan Baynes’ Section 9 single-game record of 277 yards, on five catches, two years ago. The state record of 305 yards was set by Sayville’s Derek Smith in 1972.

Cruz needs 122 yards to break the Section 9 record for receiving yards in a season, set by Warwick’s John Babin (1,211) three seasons ago.

The White-to-Cruz connection helped Cornwall (11-0) earn a rematch against Albany-area power Burnt Hills in the state semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday in Kingston. Burnt Hills defeated Cornwall 35-14 in last year’s semifinals.

“My wide receivers caught the ball, my linemen blocked for me,” said White, a junior. “Even though it was a hard day to do it, they did it. As for Alex, he’s just fast, he can catch. I just know he will always be there for me.”

Cornwall, the sixth-ranked Class A team in the state, took a 7-0 lead on its first drive of the game, scoring on a 3-yard run by Luke Zsido. White hit Cruz with an 82-yard bomb with 5:00 left in the second quarter and Cornwall led 14-0 at halftime.

Somers trimmed the lead to 14-6 on a 3-yard run by Joe Lombardo with 49 seconds left in the third quarter, marking the first time Cornwall’s defense had given up a point in 10 quarters.

On Cornwall’s next play, White hit Cruz for a 78-yard touchdown up the right sideline. Cruz bobbled the ball at midfield, but gathered it, sprinting untouched for the score.

“I saw that was a good pass, I just bobbled it,” Cruz said. “The defensive back tried hitting it out of my hand, but I just focused on the ball. I just caught it and ran. We just executed today.”

White added a 41-yard touchdown throw to Chris Bauer in the fourth quarter, and Jeff Grygiel scored on a 5-yard run.